I’ve never paid much attention to WIDA’s standards in the past since California has not worked with them. However, a month ago WIDA won the grant to develop a new national common English assessment for ELL’s

So, I would first like to thank all those who shared their well wishes. It is deeply appreciated. Also, my wife is home safe and sound and taking it easy.

Some good news. The blood test done Monday morning by the oncologist came back negative. Now apparently, well not actually, the attending physician (Who in retrospect went to the Wendy Kopp School of Medicine) in White Plains Hospital made the call that the CT scan showed lymphoma and that a biopsy was needed immediately. But more on this later.

So after consulting with her internist/GP whose specialty is oncology said that

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing results were released for reading and math. Math scores show increase; however, there is little change in reading scores. Nationally, 4th graders scores in reading were "flat" or on the average unchanged since 2009. The scores for 8th graders in reading continued to rise. The results also indicated that scores for Hispanic and

This Rachel Maddow takedown of Paul Wolfowitz was just so funny, I have to post it here. I don't really care about Paul Wolfowitz, although I do agree with Rachel--- if I ever got something so completely wrong, I'd have the sense to bow out of public life.

Professional Learning Communities Roundup

Whether it be in a single school or online, in study groups, action research teams, communities of practice, or conversation circles, educators working together with a shared focus on learning and accountability help all students learn to high levels. In October we looked at professional learning communities (PLCs) and how they provide collaborative environments where staff members take an active part in improving teaching and learning.

Listen to the Whole Child Podcast with guests C. Robert Maxfield, associate professor and teacher leadership coordinator in the Department of Educational Leadership at Oakland University in Michigan; Steven Weber, director of secondary instruction for Orange County Schools in Hillsborough, N.C.; and Sunndip

Finally, our antennae are alerted by the NJEA’s reversion to its traditional defense of tenure as it has always been (before we all apparently agreed that reform was needed): asserting that, first and foremost, it’s a defense against politicization and patronage. Predictably, the NJEA then simply asserts that the governor’s tenure reform proposal will "undermine" tenure and enable

Occupy Wall Street, with its defiant style of non-violent protest, has consistently clashed with the NYPD’s obsession with order maintenance, resulting in hundreds of mostly unnecessary arrests and a significant infringement on the basic rights of free speech and assembly.

Prior to the massive protests at the WTO in Seattle, protest policing in the U.S. was a largely casual affair punctuated with isolated outbursts of police misconduct. After Seattle, police departments embarked on a major rethinking of how to handle increasingly large and militant protests and, most importantly, how to handle the growing use of large coordinated direct actions. Without too much concern for First Amendment rights, police departments have tended to take one of two approaches and sometimes a bit of both.

The first is the strategic repression of direct action movements in particular. Beginning with the Miami police’s aggressive response to the FTAA protests in 2003, many departments resorted to using surveillance, agents provocateurs and negative publicity before an event, followed by massive deployments, “less lethal” weaponry

As of this morning, 268 teachers had called in for subs at Oakland Unified School District, according to Katy Murphy, of the Contra Costa Times? Last Wednesday, only 24 called in for subs. While this is nothing close to what is needed for a successful General Strike, it is a significant increase in absenteeism that is no doubt due to teachers’ participation in the strike.

In related news, thousands have participated in today’s day of actions, marching on banks, as well as the Port of Oakland. Students have skipped class to join the protests. Unions have provided food. Because so few long shore workers actually showed up for work today, the port was effectively shut down. And, as of 4 pm, the police have been relatively quiet, despite the fact that some protestors smashed bank windows.

It has been speculated that the police are engaging in their own strike against Mayor Jean

November 2, 2011 (GBN News): NY City Mayor Michael Bloomberg believes he has found a sure-fire way of evicting those nettlesome Occupy Wall Street protesters, GBN News has learned. According to City Hall sources, the Mayor will employ the same methods he uses in the public schools, and will dislodge the protesters by siting a charter school in Zuccotti Park.

The Mayor is said to have had no trouble bringing the head of the Success Charter Network, Eva Moskowitz, on board with his plan. Ms. Moskowitz has already ordered desks, chairs, whiteboards, and other school equipment to be delivered to

Occupy Oakland: Unions provide food for thousands of protesters

November 2, 2011 | 4:54pm

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Even protesters have to eat.

A festive atmosphere reigned in Oakland's Civic Center Plaza late Wednesday afternoon as workers from the United Food and Commercial Workers union carried tray after steaming tray of burgers, beans and rice in for a mass feast.

The union was one of many under the Alameda Labor Council umbrella that staged the giant foodfest for thousands of Occupy Oakland demonstrators, who called for a citywide "general strike"

Education

nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com - We have had nine long years during which NY state and city education officials have relentlessly focused on high stakes testing, with school closings, grade retention, and teacher bonuses all link...

washingtonpost.com - This was written by education historian Diane Ravitch for her Bridging Differences blog, which she co-authors with Deborah Meier on the Education Week website. Ravitch and Meier exchange letters ab...

nydailynews.com - Andrew Ackerman vividly remembers sitting in class with nearly 40 other students on rainy days with the lights turned off, absorbed in the short stories his English teacher read aloud.DeWitt Clinto...

dailycensored.com - Remember the obnoxious, hyperactive paperclip that popped up in Word when you were trying write a letter? As soon as you typed “Dear,” up popped up Clippy:It looks like you’re writing a letter. Wou...

nytimes.com - Nov. 1, 2011, 5:17 p.m. To say that the new Afterword in the paperback edition of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” picks up where Diane Ravitch left off would be misleading...

americanindependent.com - In 2007, the Texas Legislature created a pilot program for a clearinghouse for online classes, a place where a large school districts around the state could offer specialized courses remotely to ru...

examiner.com - There’s a common saying in Twelve Step recovery programs that the alcoholic or addict can “get off the elevator at any time.” What this means is that an individual can determine through some moment...

washingtonpost.com - Someone should be printing up a T-shirt about now that says: “My nation spent billions on testing and all I got was a 1-point gain.” Here’s what the newly released scores for the 2011 administratio...

nytimes.com - NEWARK THE people in charge of giving away $100 million of Mark Zuckerberg’s money to improve the lives of children in this city operate from a drab warren of offices downtown, where th...

michaelklonsky.blogspot.com - "We as fellow occupiers of Oscar Grant Plaza propose that on Wednesday November 2, 2011, we liberate Oakland and shut down the 1%." -- Occupy Oakland General Assembly votes to shut it down. Teach...

catalyst-chicago.org - Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Thursday that most charter schools eligible for the financial incentives to lengthen the day by 90 minutes have quickly signaled that they are ready to jump on board. B...

latimes.com - A group of parents and education advocates is preparing to sue the Los Angeles school district, demanding that it follow an arcane 40-year-old law that requires all California school systems to lin...

nytimes.com - Nov. 1, 2011, 11:00 a.m. While math scores went up overall on this year’s , New York was the only state in the country where fourth grade math scores went in the opposite direction and declined. Av...

occupyoakland.org - Liberate Oakland, Shut Down the 1%GENERAL STRIKE & MASS DAY OF ACTION Wednesday November 2, 2011 Below is the proposal passed by the Occupy Oakland General Assembly on Wednesday October 26, 2011 in...

edwize.org - The DOE would have us believe that the high school progress reports it released last week are a neutral evaluation tool where any school can do well irrespective of student demographics and charact...

schooltechconnect.com - It's more of a soundtrack with pictures than a video--- but his speech was so great that day, I just started thinking about it again this morning. Prior to Diane Ravitch's Death and Life of the Gr...

schoolsmatter.info - The Milton Friedman disciples who came to Washington with the Gipper in 1980 were intent upon smashing the public school system, beginning with the newly-formed U. S. Department of Education. Reag...

schooltechconnect.com - I have a message from Glen Brown and Fred Klonsky that IEA has issued a firmer call to action. I'm posting it below. You can also look at Jim Reed's message---- and I'm going to tip my hat to him b...

nypost.com - Apparently, even 5-year-old tots can be terrors.A number of city public schools suspended kids in kindergarten for misbehaving last year — including three schools that hit the double-digit mark.PS ...

nytimes.com - Students who graduated from college in 2010 with student loans owed an average of $25,250, up 5 percent from the previous year, according to a report scheduled for release Thursday. The...

whitehouse.gov - The White House Office of the First Lady For Immediate Release November 02, 2011 East Room2:33 P.M. EDTMRS. OBAMA: Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you all, so much.Hello and welcome to the White Ho...

gothamschools.org - News on “the nation’s report card,” sent home today by the U.S. Department of Education, is not good for New York State. New York was one of just two states to post statistically significant declin...

edwize.org - The International Labor Communications Assocation held its annual convention in Seattle in late September, and the UFT received several honors at the organization’s awards ceremony. The UFT’s websi...

gothamschools.org - Three schools that are getting millions of dollars in federal aid are among 27 schools newly added to the list of schools that could be closed. Department of Education officials announced today tha...

ednewscolorado.org - Ben DeGrow is a public policy analyst with the Independence Institute, focusing on education labor issues. Last night’s election results are a wake-up call. First, what to make of the resounding me...

mercurynews.com - A general strike today is expected to empty many businesses and schools as workers and students join Occupy Oakland downtown in a show of solidarity. Thousands are predicted to converge on the city...

saveseattleschools.blogspot.com - Just heading out the door to the FACMAC meeting, I reviewed the Board agenda. It has changed somewhat (and there are still open slots on the Speakers List, 252-0040). The renewal of the MAP contra...

theatlanticwire.com - Those wishing of adding zeros to their paychecks should know one thing: they're prayers might be best answered through science--or at least by landing a job related to science. Those working in job...

oregonlive.com - While the Forest Grove School Board recall election that saw board members Anna Tavera-Weller and Terry Howell lose their positions won’t be certified for at least two weeks, unofficial final numbe...

nytimes.com - Nov. 2, 2011, 5:03 p.m. School districts across New York State could win as much as $75 million in grant money if they can prove to state education officials that they have been able to raise perfo...

ednewscolorado.org - Vinny Badolato is vice president of public affairs at the Colorado League of Charter Schools. Results are in from the Nov. 1st election and one fact regarding the education related issues on the ba...

dallasisdblog.dallasnews.com - Two Dallas ISD schools are among several others in the area that successfully appealed their state accountability rating to receive a higher rating, according to the Texas Education Agency.The appe...

nytimes.com - Nov. 2, 2011, 4:01 p.m. Two New York City organizations received the 2011 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the first lady, Michelle Obama, at a White House ceremony on Wednesda...

thenotebook.org - Photo: Benjamin HeroldActing Superintendent Leroy Nunery at press briefing this morning where he announced recommended school closings.After months of speculation that dozens of schools across the ...

addictinginfo.org - The 99% Occupy movements are spreading throughout this great land and now a movement is gaining support from an unlikely source: the 1%. A website has been created called “We are the 1 percent. We ...

scholasticadministrator.typepad.com - Pay No Attention to the Standards Tom Hoffman: First we had everyone discussing whether or not there would be a required reading list when there never is in a standards document. Now it is all "pe...

quickanded.com - A different take on bullying. This column explores the bullying and harassment seen in education, from an adult standpoint. School leaders, board members, even superintendents, have been threatenin...

educationresearchreport.blogspot.com - ΩBoth boys and girls who play video games tend to be more creative, regardless of whether the games are violent or nonviolent, according to new research by Michigan State University scholars.A stud...

whitehouse.gov - The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release November 02, 2011 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the White House announced the launch of the 2011 Campus “Champions of Change” Challen...

bigeducationape.blogspot.com - School Tech Connect: This Is How You Run For Pension Board:This Is How You Run For Pension Boardby noreply@blogger.com (Tim)Here's Ray Wohl, running for the board of the Chicago Teachers' Pension F...

washingtonpost.com - How’s this for nutty? A teacher who has a chance encounter with a parent at a grocery store and chats about school can earn credit toward a financial bonus. That is the way it is in the Challis Sch...